Love at First Sight
by jackkel dragon
Summary: Being alone in a dangerous haunted school is enough to strain a person to their limit. But Tohko soon falls victim to a more sinister force as she seeks a boy she never met...


I lost track of the time I spent cowering behind the curtains and space heater of that old infirmary, but eventually I couldn't take hiding anymore. I started searching the room for something, anything I could hang onto to delude myself into thinking I could defend myself if… if he came back for me…

Shaking that thought away, I opened a cabinet and started digging around. I found a number of scissors, all dyed red with some sort of sticky liquid that I'm guessing wasn't paint. Since I wasn't in a situation that allowed me to be picky, I took one of the cleaner ones (relatively) and wiped it with a tissue. Some of the blood had stained the metal, but it was dry, at least.

Checking to make sure I still had the infirmary key safe in my skirt pocket, I gripped the scissors tightly and approached the infirmary door. I nudged it open a bit and peeked out, and when I didn't see anything moving I opened the door completely.

Tiptoeing out of the infirmary, I noticed that the air felt different than it did before. It also smelled a bit different, though I didn't want to think about what might be causing the strange smell I sensed. Knowing Kizami might still be near the stairwell heading back to the first floor, I turned and went the other direction.

It got dark somehow, as if the lights had gone out in this part of the building, but looking up confirmed that they were still on. I wondered if there was some sort of fog in this old schoolhouse, but I threw that thought away immediately after considering it. I stepped in something squishy, but after what I'd seen here I knew better than to look. I dragged my shoes against the floors as I walked to get whatever it was off me.

I found a door a few yards away from whatever I had stepped in, but when I tried the handle it didn't budge at all. Not like a "rusted shut" not budging, but more like a "part of the wall" not budging. I held back the urge to kick at the door. It wasn't worth hurting my foot over.

Walking further down the hallway brought me to a more-or-less lighted area again. While it looked a lot like the way up to the third floor bathrooms, the holes in the floor were in different places and it looked like someone had laid a loose board as a bridge over a gap. Seriously, this place was already giving me the creeps. Don't tell me it changes too!

Not sure what else to do, I crossed the loose board bridge and started up the stairs. I braced myself as I approached the place where Katayama's body had been tossed down the stairs. But when I got there, all I saw were bones in the pose Katayama had collapsed into.

"What?…" I shook my head. This didn't happen. How could he have decayed so quickly?!

"Help me…"

I gasped in fright as a deep male voice seemingly came from the ground. I looked down and saw that a pink cell phone was lying at the opposite end of the landing from Katayama's bones. Squeezing my scissors for comfort, I inched closer and reached down for the cell phone.

"Naomi? Is that you, Naomi? Please, say something!"

This time the voice was that of a woman. Looking at the characters displayed on the phone's screen, it must have been this Naomi's mother. I held up the phone to my ear to respond.

"H-hello? This isn't Naomi, but I—"

"Help me…"

I squealed and flung the phone away as the voice drilled into my ear. I felt like a nail was being hammered into my brain.

Panting, I looked at the phone again. It still seemed intact, despite having been flung against a wall. The voices of the woman and the man kept alternating until I wondered which one was really supposed to be talking through the phone. I guess the phone didn't really have reception here. Maybe those spirits I saw earlier were using it to scare me…

I went over and picked the phone back up, hitting what I assumed to be the "end call" button. The "in-call" symbol turned off and the phone went silent.

Now that it was quiet, I felt a bit better. I was alone in a booby-trapped old schoolhouse with a psychopath chasing me and spirits of the dead haunting me… but I felt safe, somehow. Is that weird?…

For a moment, I thought I saw a bit of black fog in my peripheral vision, but when I turned nothing was there. I shrugged it off and turned my attention back to the phone I found.

"I doubt Naomi will mind if I take a look at her photos to make sure I give it to the right person…"

I frowned. Did I say that? If I did, why did I say it out loud? I shook my head and opened the image viewer of the phone. Pictures of two girls in an unfamiliar school uniform seemed to be the most common, but I also found a few of a boy that had the same school ID tag. One or two of those looked like they had been taken stealthily when the boy wasn't looking.

"He looks kind of cute. A boyfriend, maybe?"

I paused. I knew I didn't intend to say that out loud. Was I going loopy from being alone already?

I realized I was going about this investigation the wrong way and backed out to the contacts list and selected Naomi's personal profile. I confirmed her name and found a photo of a girl in a blue smock that looked similar to one of the girls from the other photos. I suppose it's been a while since she changed her profile photo.

"I wonder why she left her phone here…" I looked up the stairs, past Katayama's bones. "Hm…"

Without really thinking much of it, I started climbing the steps. As I got closer to the third floor landing, I started to make out a quiet, repeated sound. When I stepped out into the third floor, I realized it was a girl sobbing.

Following the sound of the girl crying, I ended up walking into the girl's bathroom. I'm not entirely sure why I decided to do this… maybe I really was feeling lonely.

"Hello?"

The sobbing stopped suddenly at my call and I heard a sharp intake of breath. As my eyes adjusted to the dimmer light of the bathroom, I saw the girl I suspected to be Naomi kneeling on the floor in front of some shoes lined up in front of one of the stalls. I'd point out how weird that scene was if I hadn't seen worse already.

"Are you Naomi?" I asked, holding up the pink phone.

The girl stared at me… or more accurately, stared in my direction with blank eyes for a minute. "Who… who are you?…"

I held out the phone for her to take, bending over a bit to get it in her reach. "Tohko Kirisaki, from Byakudan Senior High."

Naomi nodded slowly, reaching out for the phone cautiously, as if she'd snatch her hand back if something looked threatening.

"I ended the call; the voice won't bother you anymore."

"O-okay…"

Naomi had barely put the phone in her skirt pocket before she started sobbing again. I tilted my head at her, thinking of how to phrase my question. Before I said anything, a draft blew through the room and I heard a stall door slam and reopen.

Turning around, I saw the other girl from the photos on Naomi's phone. I don't think she'd be taking any more photos, though. A length of rope was tied to the bar above the stall and knotted into a noose, which was wound around the girl's neck. The way she dangled a few inches from the ground with a blank expression suggested that she had been dead for some time.

I turned to Naomi, a lot calmer than I thought I should be, and studied her for a moment. She seemed to be muttering something. I leaned a bit closer to listen in.

"I'm so sorry Seiko… I'm so sorry… If Satoshi were here… he'd… he'd…"

"Who is Satoshi?" I asked suddenly. I think I was just as surprised as Naomi, who jolted upright.

After taking a moment to collect herself, Naomi sighed. "Satoshi… is a friend from my school. I'm sure he'd have known a way to save Seiko…"

I knelt down next to Naomi. "What's he look like? Maybe I've seen him."

…No, I wouldn't have. Why am I lying to her?

Choking back more tears, Naomi pulled her phone back out and opened the image viewer to a picture of the boy I'd checked the pictures of earlier.

"Satoshi… He must be so worried… I heard his little sister calling for him, but we haven't been able to find each other…"

I frowned a bit at the comment about Satoshi's sister. I leaned closer to Naomi, taking on a conspiratorial tone. "He your boyfriend?"

Naomi must have been hoping for any contact with someone who wasn't dead, because she barely hesitated to confide in me. "No. I like him but we… aren't together or anything."

I nodded. "Do you know if he likes you?…"

"Does it really matter now?" Naomi asked, slumping her shoulders.

"Come on…" I patted her shoulder, and she seemed to suddenly notice that I had scissors in my hands. "Does he like you?"

"I don't know! Maybe? Does it really matter? We're all going to die here, it doesn't really matter who likes who, Tohko!"

I leaned back a little during her outburst, but I smiled and inched closer. "It matters to me, Naomi…"

Naomi slowly started to move out of her kneeling position into a sitting pose that was easier to stand up from. "W-why? Why does it matter to you?"

I took Naomi's phone, gently, with my free hand and moved my scissors to the hand on Naomi's shoulder. I grinned stupidly as I admired the boy in the photo being displayed.

"My last relationship… didn't turn out so well." Who was I referring to, Kizami? Ah, doesn't matter. "I was thinking of finding someone else while everyone is occupied with other things…"

Naomi was almost in a position where she could easily stand up. I waited, hoping to catch her off-guard just as she thought she'd have a chance to escape.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

I giggled. "Love, sweet love! I want someone to make me happy, because everyone else here is just making me sad!"

Naomi's eyes widened. I was sort of weirded out myself. But it was kind of late to reconsider this course of action.

"I think we're going to have a great time talking about Satoshi, to see if he'll be the one for me…" I shoved Naomi with both hands and pinned her to the bathroom floor. I'll bet at least one boy from my class would have loved to see the scene we made, struggling on the floor until our hair was tousled and our clothes were askew.

I eventually decided the contest by threatening Naomi with my scissors, opening the blade and holding it against her throat. My, did her resistance fade fast!

"Let's go over the rules so we understand each other perfectly…"

I straddled her body and sat up a bit, not once letting the scissors move away from Naomi's exposed throat. The scene felt so sensual, but I had eyes only for Satoshi now…

"You're going to tell me everything I need to know about Satoshi. If I think you're holding something back, that's a little cut." I rubbed the blade of the scissors against Naomi's throat until a drop of blood formed. "Like that, but a bit deeper."

I looked around the bathroom using my peripheral vision to confirm there was enough excess rope used for the other girl's noose to create a second one. "Then, you'll help me with a little project. If you don't help or you do a bad job, I'll tear your throat open."

I leaned in close to Naomi's face. I could feel the heat from her ragged breathing against my cheeks as I stared her down. There was none of the sadness for the death of her friend or worry about her classmates anymore. There was only pure terror for her own fate.

"After that, I'm going to… send you away. Because I don't want Satoshi to be looking for someone else…"

It looked like Naomi wanted to say something, but she was afraid of the scissors against her throat. As she should be! I decided not to let her speak. If it was important, it could wait until Satoshi story time.

It occurred to me that Naomi wasn't looking at me, but rather under me. Making sure to hold the scissors steady, I peeked downwards.

Below me, dripping from between my legs and onto Naomi's waist, was a black tarry liquid. What a mood-killer.

"Hm… guess I'll need to clean up a bit before I find Satoshi."

I looked back at Naomi. "Remember the rules, Naomi. Let's get started before you're soaked."

I backed off of Naomi, making sure to hold the scissors close enough to wound her if she tried anything. She stood up slowly, shivering a bit at the feel of the black liquid streaming down her skirt. Remembering the phone, I knelt down and snatched it up before holding the scissors at Naomi's throat again.

"Tell me everything, Naomi." I licked my lips as I gazed at the image of Satoshi on the camera. "Tell me everything about the boy that will be mine."


End file.
